


A Wolfish Gingerbread Latte

by Husaria



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Photographer, Coffee Shops, M/M, Werewolf Victor Nikiforov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 19:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17167670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Husaria/pseuds/Husaria
Summary: Not many wildlife photographers had the audacity to shoot in the Canadian Rockies in the middle of winter. But when a blue-eyed white wolf and a handsome stranger at a coffee shop take an interest in him, Yuuri soon finds the weather to be the least of his worries.





	A Wolfish Gingerbread Latte

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Donsveertje](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Donsveertje).



> Written for the 2018 Yuri on Ice Secret Santa for Donsveertje! I hope you like it!

Not many wildlife photographers had the audacity to shoot in the Canadian Rockies in the middle of winter. 

The windshield wipers on his Jeep brushed off the falling snow. The highway cut through the valley of two mountain peaks in the Canadian Rockies. 

His GPS indicated that there was a side road branching off from the highway. Yuuri turned onto it. 

He pulled over on the side of the road. 

Yuuri briefly checked the car to make sure he had everything in his camera bag: the camera—most important obviously—lenses, his extender, and extra SD cards. 

Finally, he put on his snow goggles and face mask. He could get frostbite in minutes if skin was exposed. 

Yuuri quickly glanced around the snow and found a set of tracks along the side of the road. Too big for a coyote, and far too big for a fox. 

Wolves. 

The snow hadn’t covered them up, which meant that the wolves should be somewhere nearby. 

After fifteen minutes of walking along the fading prints, Yuuri found his favorite spot. The mountain range silhouetted the background and snow-covered valley, with some forests at the foothills. He crouched down, making sure that he was hardly visible against the snow. He could spend hours out here in the frozen wilderness without a single sighting of any animal. Patience was key when being a wildlife photographer. 

Yuuri held his breath. 

Out from the woods came a pure white wolf, stepping delicately, its nose pressed to the ground. 

_Shit_ . North American wolves were some of the most elusive and difficult animals to photograph. 

It swiveled its head in Yuuri’s direction. 

The wolf had blue eyes. Wolves never had blue eyes. 

Yuuri pressed his eye against the camera and snapped a few photos. The wolf’s thick, white fur contrasted beautifully with the dark tree trunks. 

_Gorgeous._

The wolf sniffed the ground again and padded in Yuuri’s direction. 

There was no way that the wolf hadn’t seen him. 

Yuuri froze. Wolves almost never willingly approached humans unless they were unused to human contact. 

But at the same time… 

Yuuri held up his camera. 

Around fifty feet from Yuuri, the wolf stopped, and his ears perked up. 

_Oh_ . 

A single wolf howled from the woods. 

The white wolf turned his head to the side and howled in return. 

Yuuri took no less than ten shots. _Beautiful_. 

The wolf turned away from him and loped back into the woods. 

Oh. Waiting in the snow for an hour for a good three minutes of an animal sighting. But that was photography. 

*** 

Sometimes Yuuri would take comfort in the isolation of his cabin and often fell asleep to the howling of the wind and wolves. 

However, at certain times, he craved for the company of people. The town closest to his cabin had a cute café. 

Early in the morning, it wasn’t that busy. Most of the customers were locals or tourists sight-seeing the Rockies. He managed to find a two-person table by the front of the café, looking out into the small Main Street. 

Yuuri inserted the SD card he used the day before into his laptop. Generally, most of his wildlife photographs were briefly touched up in Photoshop before he posted them on his website. 

Yuuri opened up the folder inside the SD card before bring up one of his favorite photos from the day before—the white wolf howling with the tree trunks in the background. 

“Those are some pretty photos.” 

Yuuri took his headphones out. “Sorry?” 

“Those photos.” A handsome man stood next to Yuuri’s table. He held a coffee in one hand and had his long silver hair tied up in a ponytail. He had striking blue eyes. They seemed familiar. “That’s a very pretty wolf.” 

“O-Oh!” stuttered Yuuri. “Yes, he’s an absolutely gorgeous animal.” 

The man smiled. “Is he? Are you a wildlife photographer?” 

Yuuri hoped that the heat in the coffee house would make his blush plausible. “Yes…Do you…admire photographs?” 

“I do, especially from the wildlife around here.” 

“In winter!” Yuuri exclaimed suddenly. “The animals with their winter coats are beautiful subjects.” 

“Are you from around here?” 

“N-No,” said Yuuri. “I’m from Toronto. I’m just spending a few weeks up here for the photography.” 

“Toronto?” said the man. “You’re far away from home.” 

“Are you from around here?” asked Yuuri 

“I was born a few towns over,” he said. “But I spend most of the year in Vancouver. I only come up for family get-togethers.” 

“Vancouver…” Yuuri hoped the disappointment wasn’t noticeable in his voice. Vancouver was awfully far from Toronto. 

“What’s your name?” Yuuri blurted out. 

“My name?” said the man. “I’m Victor. What’s yours?” 

“I’m Yuuri. Yuuri Katsuki.” Yuuri took out his wallet and froze. “Ahh…” He had forgotten his business cards in the cabin, and he had no other way for Victor to contact him. 

Victor gave him a puzzled look, and Yuuri had a peculiar feeling that he could read his mind. “Do you have a photography website?” he asked. 

Yuuri gave him the URL to his website and hoped that he didn’t look like a complete idiot. 

“Well, Yuuri, I’m interested to see what else you take photos of,” said Victor. “Maybe I’ll contact you for a photoshoot.” He waved. “I have a family function to attend. Goodbye for now.” 

Victor left Yuuri more surprised than when he entered the coffee shop. 

*** 

Yuuri found himself back in the same place as before. 

The woods appeared closer than they were. It took Yuuri a half-hour of trekking in the deep snow from his original spot to enter them. 

As it had not snowed much that day, a number of animal tracks covered the snow. Elk, foxes, bears, moose—Yuuri was more scared of them than bears—and yes, wolves. 

Yuuri came upon a small stream in the middle of the forest, with a small ridge above it on the opposite bank. 

And there, not fifty feet away from him was the white wolf, standing on a frozen stream. 

The wolf was certainly braver than Yuuri, who wouldn’t dare stand on a frozen body of water like that in the middle of winter. 

He looked at Yuuri with those haunting blue eyes. 

Yes. Yuuri took some shots. A white wolf on top of a frozen creek? Gorgeous. 

The wolf grumbled and continued to scratch at whatever lurked underneath the frozen surface. 

What are you looking at? Yuuri wondered, taking a few more photos. A salmon, some trout? 

He once again looked in Yuuri’s direction. 

Yuuri took more shots. 

He took a few steps closer. 

Twenty feet, now ten feet. 

Yuuri slowly straightened his back. _Make yourself appear bigger._

The wolf cocked his head to the side in confusion and continued padding towards Yuuri. 

But this wolf didn’t seem aggressive. It dipped its head and…licked Yuuri’s pants. 

He jumped back. Yuuri could have sworn the wolf made a disgusted face. The wolf blinked a few times and sniffed the air around Yuuri’s legs. 

Suddenly wolf whirled his head behind him. 

Above the two of them, on the ridge, stood a white wolf, staring emotionlessly at them. Yuuri found this smaller wolf more unsettling than the white one. 

_Another one?_ Yuuri knew there must have been a pack around here. 

The white wolf’s lips wrinkled into a snarl. 

Was the larger white wolf…protecting him? 

The smaller wolf did nothing. 

A grizzled, larger gray wolf stood beside the small wolf. 

Both wolves stared at the white one. The white one stared back. 

Yuuri would have given anything to take photos of this moment if he wasn’t so petrified. 

The white wolf lost the staring contest. With a small grunt, he headed back across the stream and up the ridge to the other wolves. 

The grizzled wolf bared his teeth and snapped at the white wolf, who quickly snapped back and put a paw on the wolf’s back. Both animals had their hackles raised. 

_Shit, shit._

Yuuri brought his camera back to his eye. 

The grizzled wolf stopped and glared at Yuuri, fangs bared. 

Could animals even feel hatred? He took a few steps back, still holding up the camera. 

The three wolves disappeared behind the ridge. 

_Christ, that was close._

He had enough wildlife photography for one day. Yuuri headed back to his car. 

*** 

“Oh hello, Victor.” 

“Hello, Yuuri.” 

Yuuri indicated the free seat next to him. “You can sit down if you’d like.” 

Victor did and glanced at Yuuri’s screen. He held a mug of coffee in his hand. “Did you go on another shoot yesterday?” 

“I did!” Yuuri said. “It turns out there are at least three wolves that live over there.” 

He opened his folder and clicked through it, showing Victor all the photos he took the previous day. 

“That older wolf looks like a pain in the ass,” Victor remarked. 

Yuuri laughed. “You think so?” 

“Well, he doesn’t look like the friendliest of wolves.” 

“And the smaller wolf. Maybe that’s the white wolf’s son?” 

Victor made a face. “Ahh, I think the white wolf looks a bit too young to be that wolf’s father.” 

Yuuri looked confused. “How could you tell?” 

“Go back to that picture of the wolves snarling at each other.” 

Yuuri did. 

“Look at the white wolf’s teeth. They’re far too clean for an older wolf’s.” 

“I thought wolves kept their teeth clean by chewing on bones.” 

“That’s true,” said Victor. “But overall, wolves’ teeth look worse over time.” 

Yuuri clicked around a bit more. “I think I see what you mean. The older wolf’s teeth are a bit more worn down.” 

“And the white wolf’s fangs are as white as he is.” 

“It seems so.” 

Victor spooned a dollop of whipped cream from the top of his mug into his mouth. “This is delicious.” 

“What is it?” 

“It’s a gingerbread latte,” said Victor. “Would you like to try it?” 

“Uhh…” Yuuri had drunk his own coffee a while ago, and he had no spoon… 

“You can use my spoon.” 

Again, with the mind reading. “Are you sure?” 

“It’s fine. Go ahead.” Victor pushed the mug toward him. 

“Hmm.” Yuuri took a spoonful of the whipped cream and the latte. “This is delicious.” 

“Isn’t it? It’s one of my favorite here.” 

“I’d let you try my mocha but—” 

Victor laughed. “That’s alright. I’m allergic to chocolate.” 

“Really?” 

“I’m allergic to a lot of sweet food.” Victor smiled sadly. “I’m not even supposed to be drinking this latte, but I’ll get through it. Chocolate is the worst though. Too much of that could kill me.” 

“Wow…” Yuuri said. “And here I thought my mild lactose intolerance was a pain.” 

“It’s the same with my smaller allergies,” Victor said. “But sweetness is a necessary joy in life both in and out of food.” 

Yuuri didn’t know if Victor was talking about the coffee or him. 

“While we have you up here…” Victor handed him a slip of paper. “…Call me if you need anything.” 

“Y-Your number?” Yuuri looked at the number on the paper. 

Victor took a sip of his coffee. “It can get a little boring around here. If you’d like someone to talk to, give me a call.” 

*** 

Yuuri drove down the same highway in the valley. The snow fell thick and fast today; Yuuri’s windshield wipers swiveled back and forth. The clouds were so gray, they were almost black. 

He glanced at the sky in worry. If the atrocious weather continued, Yuuri would have to cut his shoot short, or even worse, turn back on the highway. 

He turned down the side road. His eyebrows furrowed. Those were headlights up ahead. 

A pickup truck? This had been the first time that Yuuri had seen another car on this small side road. He turned his head to see if he could catch the driver. 

“No!” Yuuri gasped. 

There, in the back of the pickup truck, hanging off the side, was the skin of a large white wolf— 

He had to have prepared for this. It was hunting season, and a white wolf with a coat like that… 

Yuuri pulled over and put a hand over his mouth. Tears sprung into his eyes. 

The wolf seemed almost human. It was a sweet creature who wanted nothing more than to make friends with Yuuri— 

Who could he talk about this? 

He made a U-turn and drove straight back to the cabin. 

When he got back to his cabin, Yuuri took out his phone and the slip of paper that held Victor’s number… 

Should he call…or text? 

Yuuri was unsure if he could even talk in this current state. 

_Victor!_ He typed out. _This is Yuuri. I have bad news._

_Hello, Yuuri,_ Victor responded. _What’s wrong?_

_The wolf!_

__

_What about the wolf? The white one?_

_I think it’s dead._

_What makes you say that?_

_I saw its pelt in the back of a pickup truck._

_Are you sure that was the wolf?_

_I don’t know what other wolf it could be_ , Yuuri typed quickly. 

_Yuuri._

_He’s dead._ Yuuri could only imagine how it went. The friendly wolf, seeing another human in the woods and found himself at the other end of the barrel of a gun. 

_Is that what you think?_ said Victor. _White wolves are rather common in the area. It didn’t have to be him._

Yuuri sobbed. _I can’t see that. It was one of two white wolves and the other one was too small. And I saw the truck on the same side road I use to visit the wolf._

_You were really attached to that wolf, weren’t you?_ Victor replied. 

Yuuri didn’t know how to respond to that. 

Victor finally said, _Meet me at the forest where you met the wolf. There’s something I have to tell you._

*** 

Ordinarily, Yuuri would have misgivings about meeting a man he had just met in the middle of the forest filled with wolves and moose. However, something about returning to the same spot of the wolf drew him back. 

“Yuuri!” Victor stood on the frozen creek, holding the white wolf’s pelt in one hand. He wore only a simple jacket and jeans. How did he have no hint of frostbite on his ears? His face wasn’t even red. 

“You…You _killed_ him?!” Yuuri exclaimed. Is this what Victor brought him here for, to show off the poor wolf’s fur? 

“It’s not like that at all. Watch me…” Victor slipped on the wolf’s head like a helmet— 

Victor’s arms and legs lengthened, his jaw grew, his back snapped and the man—creature—werewolf was on all-fours. 

And then, just as suddenly as he changed, the wolf—Victor—gazed up at him with those expressive blue eyes. 

“V-Victor?!” 

The wolf wagged its tail slightly. 

“Y-You’re a…werewolf…?” 

Victor chuffed, ears perked up. 

Yuuri blinked a few times. 

Victor whirled around and snarled. 

No less than four wolves scrambled down the ridge. The grizzled one, the smaller white one, one that was red-grey, one black-gray, another one black-grey but with white in its muzzle— 

They circled around Yuuri and Victor, fangs bared, hackles raised. 

Victor snapped at the smaller white one, and Yuuri blinked, and suddenly it seemed as if every wolf had sprung on top of Victor, snapping their jowls and grabbing bits of Victor’s skin and fur. Fur flew and wolves cried out in pain. 

Victor’s human form appeared next to Yuuri, jacket ripped up and scrapes on his face. 

“Enough!” he yelled. 

The grizzled gray wolf’s body shifted and formed into an older man in a beige trench coat. He picked up a brown hat off the snow and put it on. 

“What in God’s name have you done?” the man yelled. “You revealed yourself to a human.” 

“He was taking photos of me,” Victor said nonchalantly. 

“How is that a good excuse?” the man growled. “What if this human had a gun? You could have died.” 

“He has a camera, not a gun,” said Victor. “He isn’t capable of killing anyone. Besides, I haven’t found a photographer to capture my likeness like he has.” 

The smaller white wolf transformed into a blond teenager. “You’re just being as vain as you always have,” he growled. 

“Yuri, I’m not vain.” 

Yuuri suddenly thought of all the times the wolf knew he was posing for him and Yuri may have had a point… 

Yuri spat, “You have this smug swagger—” 

“That’s just how I walk—” 

“This is a stupid conversation,” said the older man. “Now we have to somehow find out what to do about this…human.” 

“We could just kill him like we did in the old days,” suggested Yuri. “Would anyone miss him?” 

“Who’s this we?” Yakov snarled. “You’re only sixteen, pup. The law forbids us killing humans.” 

“Look at this guy.” Yuri pointed at Yuuri. “Is he pissing himself?” 

Yuuri assuredly was not; however, he might have been staring off into space for an uncertain amount of time. “U-uhhh…” 

“Geez, go easy on this guy.” The red-gray wolf vanished, and in her place, stood a charming redhaired woman. “We’re scaring the hell out of him.” 

Yuuri silently thanked whoever she was. 

“He seems to be taking it well,” said Victor. 

“Yes, it could be worse,” said the red wolfwoman. “He could have shot you.” 

“So…all of you are werewolves?” Yuuri blurted out. 

“The correct term is vurdalak—” said Yuri. 

“And…you’re all…Canadian?!” 

Yuri looked baffled. “How is that relevant to the conversation?” 

“U-Um…” Yuuri’s mind moved as quickly as the frozen water in the creek. 

Victor glanced at Yuuri. “Perhaps all of you should leave Yuuri alone, and I will go talk to him,” he said. 

“But we need to do something about him,” growled Yuri. “What if he squeals to everyone in town and we’ll have to move to another territory? Or sets some humans after us.” 

“I-I won’t tell anyone!” exclaimed Yuuri. “I swear! I won’t tell anyone. A-And I’ll edit out Victor’s blue eyes in the photos and make them gold. Th-then, no one will know he’s different.” 

Yuri gave him a skeptical expression. 

“I-I promise!” exclaimed Yuuri. “I’m going to tell no one. Not even my roommate…” 

All five other werewolves stared at him impassively. And finally, the older one spoke up, “Fine. We accept your promise. Mark our words. We’ll find you if you breathe a word of this to any other human.” 

The werewolves put their pelts back on and loped up the ridge again. The grizzled wolf looked over his shoulder at Victor before moving on. 

“Personally, I found my eyes to be the best part of the photos,” said Victor. 

Yuuri gasped and bent down, gripping his knees. “Oh, God…” 

“Yuuri?” asked Victor. “Are you okay?” 

“N-No…” Yuuri sputtered. “I could have died.” 

“They wouldn’t have hurt you—” 

Yuuri glared at him, and Victor blinked in surprise. Clearly, he had no idea how traumatizing it was to be confronted by five relatively unfriendly werewolves. 

Yuuri took a deep breath. “Ohhh, God,” he repeated. 

“And ah-they all just left?” he gasped. “After I said that?” 

“Wolves can tell when you lie,” Victor explained. “Actually, most animals can. We took you at your word. You were being honest.” 

“O-Oh…” That still didn’t explain much to Yuuri. 

Yuuri breathed shallowly and stayed silent, trying to process the events that just happened. 

“Yuuri?” Victor said gently. “Are you okay?” 

“Uhh…” 

There were werewolves living in the northern Rockies…in Canada. He had a bit of a werewolf’s gingerbread latte. Said werewolf was devilishly handsome as a human— 

“Yuuri?” 

Yuuri shook his head quickly. “Ah?” 

“Are you in shock?” Victor prodded gently. 

“I…I…” Yuuri blinked a few more times. “So…you’re all werewolves?” 

“That’s the closest word for what we are, yes.” 

“And you’re…a white wolf.” 

“Yes.” 

“And what about the wolf skin?” he asked. “And the pickup truck…?” 

Victor scoffed. “I’ve been telling Yakov for years that he should get a newer model; it’s a hideous truck.” 

“…Yakov?” 

“Ah, he’s the older wolf. The one that was pissed off at me.” 

“Yes…?” 

“That’s him.” 

“And his name is Yakov?” 

“Yes.” 

“So that was your pelt in the back of the truck?” 

Victor sighed. “Yes. I tried to meet you for another photoshoot, but he caught me and threw me in his pickup truck.” 

“He didn’t literally throw you in there, did he?” 

“Oh, he literally did.” 

Yuuri tried to imagine Yakov tossing Victor into his truck like a sack of potatoes. 

“And you all live…in Canada?” 

“For the most part.” 

“The most part?!” 

“Well, we aren’t the only werewolves in the world. I’ve heard there’s another pack in Russia, a smaller number in Italy. Mila—” 

“Who…?” 

“The red wolf,” Victor said quickly. “Mila mentioned that there’s one in the Apennines, but I’ve never been there. She’s been traveling there an awful lot…” 

“There are more werewolves?” said Yuuri. 

“Well of course,” said Victor. “There aren’t very many of us left as you can probably tell. We’ve nearly been hunted to extinction. That’s why everyone was upset with me.” 

“Oh…” 

Yuuri breathed out. 

It had started to snow again. Thick clumps of snowflakes fell on Yuuri’s jacket. Some snow fell on Victor’s face and melted immediately. 

“How can you survive without wearing any other clothes?” 

“It’s a wolf thing.” 

“How many other wolf things do you have?” 

“Countless others.” 

Yuuri had a million other questions in his mind, but he could not think of anything else to say. 

“Is that all?” said Victor. 

“Can you read minds?” 

Victor laughed. “No, we can’t read minds.” 

*** 

“You don’t have to go back, do you?” 

Victor watched as Yuuri loaded his suitcase into the back of the Jeep. 

“I have a few photoshoots on my schedule,” said Yuuri. “And a pretty big wedding shoot next weekend.” He stared straight forward. “…I forgot that I had that.” A lot had happened these past few weeks in the Rockies. 

“I saw that you did those on your website,” said Victor. “Maybe I’ll ask you to do some for me.” 

“Now that I know that you posed for me on purpose, I should start charging you for these services,” said Yuuri. 

Victor laughed. “I wouldn’t mind that.” 

Yuuri closed the trunk. “How long are you staying up here?” 

“For a few more weeks. Yakov really likes the isolation.” Victor breathed out and scowled. “I do too, but not for months at a time. It can be terribly boring out here sometimes. I can’t wait to get back to Vancouver.” He sighed. 

“Will I…” Yuuri swallowed. “Will I ever see you again?” 

Victor’s eyes softened. “I’m not sure if there’s another pack in Ontario…and all of my family are here.” He chuckled. “But eventually, young wolves like myself will have to find new territory for their own pack.” 

“So…?” 

“I have your number,” said Victor. 

“I’ll text you when I get back to Toronto,” said Yuuri. “I don’t…I don’t want to lose contact with you.” 

“Yuuri…” Victor leaned forward and pulled Yuuri into a hug. 

Yuuri breathed in and wrapped his arms around Victor’s waist. Victor was right; werewolves were warmer than humans. 


End file.
